Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
The moment they stepped outside of the Harry Reid Airport, Autumn was surprised she didn’t melt onto the pavement. Hawai’i could get warm, but not Vegas in August warm. Also, how was the sun brighter? It was burning the inside of her eyeballs.
“How do people live like this?” she asked, shoving her sunglasses on.
Seth chuckled, and like always, her entire body lit up at the sound.
She had never thought to be with a man for long, let alone get engaged to him, but then Seth happened.
From the moment she met him, she’d wanted him.
She ignored that need for months, but once they had to work together, keeping her hands off him had become impossible.
Autumn never thought any man, especially a former SEAL, would interest her for long.
But from the beginning, the man never judged her for her weirdness.
In fact, he seemed to enjoy that about her.
“Lots of air conditioning. Let’s get to our rental car.”
She nodded and walked with him to their designated car.
All the while, she felt the brush of something against the back of her neck.
As someone who grew up in a cult, Autumn knew when someone was watching her.
Her mother had made sure Autumn understood that a cult wasn’t a good place to live and that she should always watch her back.
Without calling attention to herself, she surveilled the area. She saw no one.
She wondered if she was feeling guilty about lying to Seth. Yes, he knew she was lying to him about the reason for coming to Vegas. Her surprise was enormous, and she had only told her friend Jin Lee know about it. She had reassured Autumn that Seth would be thrilled.
Ever since they had gotten on the plane, she had been freaking out.
It was as if someone was watching them. She pushed those thoughts aside.
It had been over a year since her fake father had been killed.
It was still hard for her to believe that the bastard was really gone.
For years, everyone had thought that Joseph—the leader of the cult— was her father.
It wasn’t until she and her mother were trying to escape that she found out her birth father was Sam Smith and that she had a younger half-brother.
Every now and then, some poor lost soul would pop up.
All of them thought Autumn was there to save them.
Pushing that aside, she convinced herself it was the guilt. Once she revealed everything to Seth, those feelings would go away. They easily found their car and were soon on their way to the strip. Her nerves were still jumpy, so she decided she needed some reassurance.
Autumn: We landed, and I’m convinced I made a huge mistake.
Jin: Good to hear. Also, stop being crazy. Seth is going to be ecstatic.
Autumn: What do you know? That baby you’re carrying is leaving you brain-dead most days.
Jin and Adam—her actual supervisor at work—were expecting their first child.
Jin: *Pic of Jin flipping off the camera*
Autumn chuckled.
“Something you want to share with the class?”
“Jin flipped me off because I told her the baby was leaving her brain dead.”
“Did you text your father and brother?”
“No, they’re in the air right now.”
He nodded. Taking her left hand, he threaded his fingers through hers, then pulled it up so he could kiss the back of her hand.
She let her mind drift as he easily drove them through the traffic. The city seemed to rise out of the desert. What had it looked like before all the bright lights?
“What are you thinking about?”
She glanced over at Seth. The man was the most beautiful man ever created in her opinion. He was the epitome of the strong, silent type. But then those still waters ran deep, making everything in the bedroom interesting.
“I was thinking about what it looked like when Bugsy Malone had decided to create this Oasis.”
“Ah.”
“What does that mean?”
“You spent three weeks obsessing about what Honolulu looked like during World War II.”
True. Autumn’s upbringing in the cult had lacked a good history class.
Joseph didn’t like history unless it was about him.
Also, her own history made her value the fact that little things could bring about changes.
If her mother had told Sam she was pregnant, rather than running off with Joseph, letting him think he was the actual father, Autumn often wondered how her life would have worked out.
Of course, she wouldn’t have Ian as a younger half-brother in that case.
“It was weird, right? To look at this desert and say, ‘Hey, let’s build a casino.’”
Another chuckle. She liked Seth like this.
When it was just the two of them, he would let his guard down.
Not that she didn’t appreciate him in full Team Bravo captain mode, but she knew this was special.
He could be very stoic in most situations.
One of the reasons he had been a kick ass SEAL, and she knew he had the respect of the entire Bravo team.
Seth pulled up to The Athena, the newest casino on the strip. During her research of different casinos, Autumn picked this one for a couple of reasons. First, who didn’t want to stay at a new hotel? Secondly, it was owned and operated by three sisters. She was always about empowering women.
The valet rushed out to the car, but Seth beat him so he could open the door.
Autumn had never been a woman who expected pretty manners.
She could open her own door, thank you very much.
But with Seth, it just seemed natural. He had been raised to respect women.
Also, it was nice sometimes to have someone look after her.
Sam, her birth father, had taken care of her to an extent.
But he hadn’t found out about her until she was a teen.
Seth reached in to offer his hand to her, and just like always, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to put her hand in his.
The smile he gave her sent a wave of heat rushing through her.
Before Seth had knocked her off her feet, she had never been in a romantic relationship.
One or two night stands had been what she liked…
expected. Seth had been different from the beginning.
He ushered her inside, his hand on the small of her back. And…there was that feeling again. Like someone was watching them. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the valet looking at them.
“What?” Seth asked.
Shaking her head, Autumn smiled at him. “Nothing. I’m just out of sorts. I hate the flight to the mainland.”
“True.”
Flying from Hawai’i back to the mainland always left people out of sorts. She had always thought it was just her until she started working at TFH, when people started talking about jet lag.
They stepped into the lobby of The Athena and came to a stop.
“Wow,” Seth said.
It was stunning. The first thing you noticed was the casino’s airy feel.
She had a feeling a lot of them had that same feel, but not all of them had what had to be a one-hundred-foot statue of Athena in the center of the lobby.
The sculpture stood in the middle of a fountain with dancing water and lights.
The lush vegetation around the area added to the aesthetic.
“If the lobby is this stunning, I can’t wait to see the room.”
She nodded and noticed the concierge check in.
“Let’s check in,” she said, tugging Seth along.
“Check in is over there,” Seth said, nodding to the long line of people waiting to check in.
She shook her head. “The email told me to check in with the concierge.”
What she didn’t say was that she booked them one of the fancy suites.
Seth was a little weird about the family money she had through her mother’s side of the family.
He always wanted to pay half of everything, which seemed strange to her.
But this was her thing, and he was just going to have to deal with it.
As they stepped up to the desk, a short, thin man smiled at them. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, we’re here to check in.”
“Name?”
“Autumn Bradford.”
His eyes widened, then took in her appearance. The Bradford name was well known in some circles. In Hawai’i, no one cared that she had been left a fortune.
“Yes, of course. You have one of the Warrior Suites.”
She could feel Seth’s stare. She ignored him. He was just going to have to deal with this sooner or later.
“Yes.”
“Oh, and I’m seeing that you had a package delivered. We will make sure to send it right up, and the valet will bring your suitcases to your room.”
“Thank you, Jerry,” Seth murmured.
“No problem, Mr. Bradford.”
“Harrison.”
“Excuse me?”
“Mr. Harrison. That’s my last name.”
The other man turned pink. “Of course.”
Jerry handed her two keys.
“Your room number is on the inside of the envelope. I hope you have a wonderful stay.”
“Thanks, Jerry,” she said.
He sent Seth another furtive glance as he nodded.
They made their way to the bank of elevators.
Everywhere she looked seemed to represent something about the goddess Athena.
It was busy, with many people stopping to read the information beneath the artwork or to marvel at the soft, airy, curved ceiling.
Even with the number of people there, they got the lift all to themselves.
“What floor?”
“Fifteen.”
His eyebrows rose up, but he said nothing. She knew he might argue with her about this, but she wouldn’t back down.
“A Warrior Suite?” he asked, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. This close, she could smell his unique scent. Spicy, wild, and all Seth.
“Yep.”
“Autumn, how much does that cost?”
“Seth, this is my vacation. I wanted to make it big.”
His frown softened a little. Not all the way…and he was still sexy.
“I get that, but I thought we agreed that we went 50/50 on everything.”
“We are, but not for this.” Autumn leaned closer and gave in to the need to nibble on his lower lip. “Tell you what. You can pay for our next vacation.”
“You promise?”
“Yep. And you can plan it all.”
She knew he would get off on that. The way his eyes widened told her she was right. You could take the SEAL out of the Navy, but you could never take the SEAL out of the man. He adored plans.
“Okay. That works.”
The elevator came to an abrupt stop, and her stomach rolled over. She frowned.
“What?”
She looked up at Seth. “I think I need to eat.”
“It has been two hours.”
She nodded. “Let’s check out the room, then go eat something.”
As he pulled her from the elevator, the sense of something ominous bearing down on them sent her pulse scrambling. She pushed the thought aside. She knew this was a coping reaction when she took big steps.
And, other than Jin, no one else knew anything about her plan to marry the man holding her hand. It was probably the first time a man had a surprise elopement sprung on him, but for better or worse, it was what she had planned. Seth was just going to have to deal with it.